America’s AI ambition benefits from fast-tracked advanced nuclear reactor buildouts—and, crucially, innovation partnerships with trusted technology allies. 

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and civil nuclear energy are rapidly restructuring the global landscape of competition and cooperation. As nations around the world race to lead in critical, emerging technologies, the intersection of AI infrastructure and reliable, high-density energy sources is evermore strategically important. 

For the United States and its allies and partners, the nexus of AI and civil nuclear energy presents both opportunities and challenges. Most importantly, Washington must ensure that advanced technologies are developed, deployed, and governed through policies centered on US national security interests, shared democratic values, and pro-innovation economic growth models.

Neither AI deployment nor nuclear innovation, however, can advance in isolation. Rather, the future of both critical technologies will depend on US collaboration with key trusted technology partners, such as South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

Powering the AI Dominance Race

The rapid growth of AI development systems—from large language models (LLMs) to machine learning—necessitates large-scale electricity resources. Predictions for the global electricity demand from AI-related infrastructure alone could more than double by 2030, reaching upwards of 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually.

The future of AI competitiveness, therefore, rests upon the United States’ ability to secure stable electricity needed for energy-intensive AI data centers. 

Increasingly, civil nuclear energy is viewed as a strategic multiplier of US technology leadership. Both policymakers and Big Tech leaders alike are looking to civil nuclear energy to fill the critical gap in wattage for AI development. Advanced modular reactors (AMRs) and small modular reactors (SMRs) have the potential to provide a reliable, dependable, and scalable energy solution. 

Washington recognizes the undeniable convergence of AI and civil nuclear. Last year’s US AI Action Planhighlighted the strategic importance of expanding AI-related domestic infrastructure to maintain globally competitive computing capacity, alongside the need to secure emerging digital infrastructure. 

Additionally, the Trump administration’s executive order, “Deploying Nuclear Reactors for National Security,”signals renewed US federal commitments for building and fueling the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors, aimed at expanding baseload energy sources for critical AI infrastructure. 

To address the challenges of AI’s power-driven development, US policymakers, alongside key allies and partners, are increasingly linking AI advancement with civil nuclear energy development. 

AI-driven Investments Fueling Nuclear Expansion

Forecasting rapid growth in energy demand for cloud computing, big data, and AI, US technology giants—such as Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—are rushing to sign contracts with current large-scale nuclear power plant operators and to invest in future advanced and SMR nuclear technologies.

Microsoft’s 20-year power purchasing agreement with Constellation Energy has fast-tracked reactor restart at the Crane Clean Energy Center (formerly Three Mile Island). Google’s agreement with Kairos Power will see the first-of-a-kind demonstration of the nuclear companies’ Gen IV reactor, Hermes 2, adding up to 50 megawatts (MW) to Google’s grid by 2035. 

Similarly, Amazon’s $500 million investment deal with X-Energy aims to deploy a four-unit SMR project totaling 320 MW, alongside additional project goals amounting to 5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity by 2039.  

Nuclear agreements with US-trusted technology partners are also on the rise. Many of these AI-driven investments are between US tech companies and South Korea’s leading nuclear engineering and construction firms. 

From Fermi America’s massive gigawatt-sized Project Matador to X-energy and Amazon’s joint partnership on next-generation nuclear reactor buildouts, South Korea’s leading public entities and private companies—including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Doosan Enerbility, Hyundai E&C, and Samsung C&T—are investing in the future of US next-generation nuclear energy technologies.

Additionally, the Trump administration’s bilateral trade deals present opportunities to expand state-to-state level agreements on investments and supply chain partnerships. 

As part of Japan’s commitment to invest $550 billion in critical US technical and energy industries, Tokyo is developing investment projects in US civil nuclear and AI-related infrastructure. Recently, Washington and Tokyo have been exploring options for Japan’s up to $100-billion in investment and technical support to build new large-scale Westinghouse AP-1000 reactors and SMRs within the United States. 

With the legislative conclusion of South Korea’s Special Act on Investment in the United States, Seoul may also follow a similar path for its pledged $350 billion investment deal.

Case in point, US tech companies are bidding big on nuclear energy—and US strategic allies and partners are wisely chipping in.

AI-Nuclear Innovation Loop

For these cross-sector investments, there is good news: the AI industry’s dependence on round-the-clock nuclear energy will not be one-sided. The future of AI is set to be powered by nuclear energy, but it will also fuel digital innovation across the civil nuclear ecosystem.

Because of this, nuclear power plant (NPP) operators are also choosing to lean into advancing AI innovation as well. Technical developments from AI expansion hold the potential to feed innovation back into the nuclear industry—advancing how nuclear facilities are designed, monitored, regulated, and operated.

Today, digital engineering tools, such as “digital twin” systems—data-driven virtual models of nuclear reactors—offer powerful new opportunities to support NPP operators’ ability to simulate reactor performance, detect anomalies, and forecast operations and maintenance scheduling. 

Even in the global race for AI, however, it must not be forgotten that pro-innovation momentum must also consider the larger risks inherent to potentially dual-use technologies. 

Down the road, AI-enabled systems may also serve to strengthen nuclear safeguards, ensuring robust nonproliferation compliance. As new advanced reactors come online, advanced real-time monitoring and early diversion-pathway analysis will be key to an integrated safeguards-by-design system. 

Such AI-powered systems could support regulators and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectorsin the detection of irregular reactor activities and potential misuse, especially in the advancement of first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies. 

Much-Needed Technology Alliances in AI and Nuclear Energy

Both AI development and nuclear energy technologies present challenges that cannot—and must not—be addressed alone. 

Washington, instead, should coordinate action among technologically advanced nations that share aligned standards for technology transparency, safety, and responsible innovation. 

The reality is that the development of the world’s 400+ nuclear energy reactors was founded crucially on technical and diplomatic cooperation. Today’s intersection of AI and nuclear technology advancement must progress similarly. 

Especially amid the US-China strategic competition, the United States will need like-minded allies and partners in its advancement of technology leadership. Among its diplomatic allies, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan stand out as clear innovative AI partners. 

Both Taipei and Seoul bring significant semiconductor industry expertise, cutting-edge manufacturing capacity, and technical know-how. Furthermore, South Korea and Japan have individually demonstrated global competitiveness in building nuclear reactors efficiently and at scale. All three countries (alongside the potential for India) represent digital economies at the forefront of AI development and deployment.

Closer collaboration between the United States and core technology innovator nations—from powering AI’s ever-growing energy demands and accelerating at-home deployment of advanced reactors to leveraging AI-enabled systems for secure NPP digital infrastructure—stands to advance critical technology imperatives at the center of US national interests.

By aligning regulatory frameworks, safety standards, and innovation policies, democratic technology leaders can help ensure that the future of AI and nuclear energy remains open, secure, and accountable.

Strategic Opportunity for Democratic Technology Leadership

As the United States seeks to advance its global AI leadership, strengthening US technical competitiveness starts at home through the strategic expansion of national energy resources. However, ensuring global tech leadership will require more than promised domestic investment. 

For Washington’s policymakers, the groundwork starts with establishing pro-innovation technology diplomacy with allied partners capable of building out trusted scientific and industrial capabilities.

This is a critical moment of opportunity for US technical and policy leaders. By expanding collaboration across US diplomatic partnerships in advanced civil nuclear innovation and de-risking crucial AI-related supply chains, Washington can define the rules of the emerging technological order. 

If not, the future of these critical technologies—and the long-term implications for geopolitical competition, energy security, and economic innovation—will be shaped by the United States’ authoritarian competitors. 

About the Author: Kayla Orta

Kayla T. Orta is a nonresident fellow in the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. A former US Department of Defense NSEP Boren Scholar to South Korea, her expertise lies in US-Indo-Pacific and US-Korean foreign relations, especially at the intersection of security and technology policy, including nonproliferation, nuclear diplomacy, and civil nuclear energy markets. Most recently, she worked as the Senior Associate at the Wilson Center’s Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy. 

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